ART OF THE GOWN
The city’s newest formalwear designers follow a different muse.
There was a time, not long ago, when the height of fashion at a San Francisco gala night was showing up in a custom-made gown by a San Francisco couturier — Lily Samii, Colleen Quen, Michael Casey, Max Nugus or Joseph Domingo, to name a few.
But to look at the most-photographed women at black-tie events in recent years is to see a parade of guests posing for society photos in ready-towear gowns by Oscar de la Renta, Alexander McQueen, Chanel and others. Major events like the San Francisco Ballet’s season-opening gala on Jan. 19 are the perfect stage for those
“My work might stand out because it would probably look something like a painting in a museum.” Yuka Uehara, designer
who want to shine in the spotlight.
Shifts in consumer behavior and the retail market have led younger shoppers to focus on the instant gratification of buying off the rack; the desire for status labels that hold their value (and are easier to re-sell or consign online); and the trend toward renting gowns, instead of shelling out thousands to own them.
It’s enough to make a couturier throw in the tulle, er, towel.
Yet, undaunted, a new generation of local designers has its eye on the red carpets of the Bay Area, motivated by the urge to create pieces with a distinct point of view.
The newest is Yuka Uehara, 31, a self-trained designer from Japan, who’s fetching $8,000 and up for her full-length formal wear, characteristic for its combination of antique kimono panels and hand-painted raw silk. Her route to design is as unconventional as her evening wear. After finishing premed studies in the U.S. and working in a research lab, she returned to Tokyo to work at her father’s TV production company. In 2012, she set up a Bay Area office to scout talent and locations for West Coast shoots, and turned heads in the fall of 2015 at the San Francisco Opera in a gown from her nascent line, Tokyo Gamine. (A collection of day wear that includes neoprene dresses and cape-like jackets is soon to be carried at MAC and McMullen boutiques at prices of $1,000 per piece and up.)
“My work might stand out because it would probably look something like a painting in a museum,” she said. “When I meet with a client, my head is a blank canvas. When I get to know them, slowly I see pictures forming. When I make things for them, it has to be flattering, but on top of that, it’s like painting a picture — and only I know when it’s complete.”
Karen Kubin, an attorney and San Francisco Opera Guild board member, was “thrilled” with her custom yellow, black and white gown with kimono fabric, with hand-painted silk and black rosettes, worn to the opera gala in September. Its high-low hem soared and dipped like the bird in one of Kubin’s favorite operas, Puccini’s “La Rondine” (The Swallow).
“It’s designed around any issues you might have, and you don’t have to worry about seeing yourself coming and going,” said Kubin, referring to showing up in the same off-the-rack gown as someone else. “The advantage to couture is that the gown is all yours”
Another relative newcomer, Vasily Vein, is known for dramatic looks. Gowns by this Russian designer, which start at $1,000, are as theatrical and regal as Vein’s curly blond mane, owing perhaps to his decade of work as a stylist and image consultant with pop and rock stars in Moscow before coming to San Francisco in 2008. His label, which launched in 2011, has been featured in runway shows in San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento, and worn by women who are not afraid to draw double takes, like fashionista Sonya Molodetskaya.
“If a lady turns her head to see someone’s gown carefully, that means it’s Vasily Vein’s gown,” he said. “I’m going for the wow factor.”
Karen Caldwell has a different take on glamour — old Hollywood glamour. Her eponymous label launched in 2010, and the St. Helena designer has a penchant for monochromatic gowns with clean, simple lines, influenced by her grandmother, who knew costume designer Edith Head. Caldwell recycles vintage clothing by using pieces of it in her new creations. Thanks to the help of celebrity stylists, her dresses and gowns have been worn by Hollywood VIPs such as Livia Firth, wife of actor Colin Firth, and stars Amanda Seyfried, Viola Davis and Jessica Chastain, as well as Bay Area women on gala nights.
They’re chasing Lily Samii — the queen of Bay Area couture. She opened shop in 1969 and her business thrives with older, established clients who fly under the social radar, enjoy unique pieces and can afford her prices, which run in the thousands. Samii’s gowns have been carried nationally at Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and Jacobson’s (a now-defunct chain in Michigan and Florida), and are still sold at Saks Fifth Avenue, and at her atelier.
The hallmark of her work, she said, is its construction and her 100 percent silk linings, a rarity. “There are so many hidden things that only a woman
who puts it on will know about,” she said. “They say, ‘Oh, it feels so good.’ They change in front of my eyes. They turn around and want to see themselves in the mirror. I love that part of my business.”
Not everyone appreciates the oldschool art form.
One customer took her daughter to Samii’s atelier, intending to treat her to a custom gown for a debutante ball, only to hear the teen say she’d already arranged for a dress from Rent the Runway.
“It blew my mind away,” Samii said. “That is the mentality today.”
Joseph Domingo, who opened in 1999, echoed Samii’s sentiments.
“The challenge,” said Domingo, who acknowledged a decline in his client base since 2008, “is finding and educating a new and younger generation of customers that can and are willing to understand the worth and intricacy involved in making a custom-made garment.”
Customers’ lack of respect led Julia Panciroli, an experienced Scottish designer who made a splash here in 2011, to take a time-out from designing. After a fundraising fashion show in which Panciroli was the featured designer, the gala chair requested the designer make her a custom outfit for free. She explained she’d bought so many designer clothes that her husband would object to more spending, and noted that wearing the outfit around town would be good publicity for Panciroli.
“My best clients were always younger, very wealthy, self-made Silicon Valley women,” said Panciroli, who now teaches at the Academy of Art University. “They have a greater appreciation of one-of-a-kind designs with a story behind them, of supporting another local person in business and are not so snobbish in their choice of label.”
Colleen Quen, who quit fashion for health reasons, still makes occasional garments for loyal clients like public relations consultant Sallie Huntting and art collector Norah Stone, who appreciate the months of consultations and fittings that go into her architectural custom pieces.
“It’s not like you can click it and buy it,” Quen said. “It’s about the art of dressing, designing, measuring, picking the fabrics, the jewelry, her shoes before she walks out. That’s the beauty of the whole process. We’re artists.”